Bill Maher
Bill Maher (born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Cornell University in 1978.
He is most notable as the former host of Politically Incorrect, which aired on the Comedy Central television network and later ABC. Maher is also the host of the HBO talk show Real Time With Bill Maher.
Maher resigned as host of Politically Incorrect in 2002 after making a controversial on-air remark, in which he objected to the President and others calling the September 11 terrorists cowardly: "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
In the sensitive aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the remark was deemed too controversial for some financial supporters. Although some pundits supported Maher, pointing out the distinction between physical and moral cowardice, companies including FedEx and Sears Roebuck pulled their advertisements from the show, quickly causing the show to cost more than it returned. The show was subsequently cancelled on June 16, 2002.
On June 22, 2002, six days after the cancellation of Politically Incorrect, Maher received the President's Award (for "championing free speech") from the Los Angeles Press Club.
In 2003, Maher became the host of Real Time with Bill Maher, a debate show somewhat similar to Politically Incorrect.
Although Maher is a self-described libertarian, he is more often been accused of being a liberal or even a "libertine socialist" by political commentators such as Jonah Goldberg, particularly given his support of many Social Democrat views such as the public school system, government-sponsored environmental projects, affirmative action, aggressive gun control, income redistribution through higher taxation, government funded abortion, and his voting for Ralph Nader in the 2000 election.
Some of his other stances, including privatizing social security and ending the War on Drugs, are distinctively libertarian. However libertarians are ideologically opposed to social welfare, gun control and higher taxes. Maher also supports the death penalty.
Quotations
- Response to Dinesh D'Souza's assertion that the 9/11 terrorists were not cowards: "Exactly...We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
- "We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities."
- "But isn't there something wrong when I'm the ONLY guy in the country that got fired for 9/11?"
Books
- Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits, 1996 (ISBN 0679456279)
- Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect, 1997 (ISBN 0345412818)
- True Story : A Novel, 2002 (ISBN 0743242513)
- When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism, 2003 (ISBN 1893224902)
- Keep the Statue of Liberty Closed: The New Rules, 2004 (ISBN 1932407472)
External links
